Search Engines

Do you have a favorite search engine that we don't have listed here? Please let us know.

Links verified 2/20/2023

Search Strategies | Search Advice | Clustering Search Engines

1. 43Marks - This new meta search engine is a customizable bookmark storage page - take a look at a customized sample
2. Academic Reference and Research Index - tens of thousands of academic reference and research sites
3. AOL Search is a search engine powered by Excite and enhanced by Google.
4. Arielis - a root search engine, so you can search by root word
5. Ask - type a question the way you would normally ask it
6. Beaucoup - the ultimate source for free information
7. Congress.gov - [replaces Thomas] Legislative Information on the Internet
8. Dogpile searches by accessing several search engines. If you have been using the search engine MetaFind, you are now automatically routed to Dogpile.
9. Entire Web - general purpose search engine
10. FindSounds.com is a search engine for finding sound effects on the Web.
11. Giga Blast powerful, new search engine that does real-time indexing
12. 30 Google Search Tips and Tricks for Students
13. Google ranks the quality of sites based on the quality of sites that link to it.
14. Google Custom Search Engine - Create your own search engine on specific topics and limit it to just the web sites you want students to use.
15. Google Maps - street maps or satellite maps, directions and business search, they even have traffic information for some cities
16. Google Web Search Features - from the Google Help Center
17. ixQuick a metasearch engine
18. KartOO - a metasearch engine with visual display interfaces
19. MetaEureka - a simple text based meta search engine
20. Partners in Rhyme provides a huge database of sounds to search
21. Search.com posted by c|net and powered by Excite. Their topical index is in the form of a pull-down menu, or a listing of topics they call Specialty Searches.
22. Start - claims to be the world's first Web-based question answering system
23. Visual Thesaurus - Really cool way to look up synonyms. It is just a trial version but you can look up a few words at a time without paying.
24. Wayback Machine - Browse through 55 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago.
25. Wikipedia's list of search engines
26. Yahoo features a topical index as well as a search function. The topical index provides pre-defined search results.
27. Yippy - clustering search enginees)
28. Zapmeta - I really do like their Quick View feature, give it a try. Although this meta search engine does give a small, manageable number of resources, the first sites listed are commercial sites. Recommendation : Skip the Featured Sponsor Listings and go straight to the Web Site Results section.

Clustering Search Engines

1. Search Cube - Search-Cube is a visual search engine that presents web search results in a unique, three-dimensional cube interface. It shows previews of up to ninety-six websites, videos and images.
2. Search Engines with Cluster Technology - Over 40 search engines with cluster technology generate different groups of particular topics
3. Yippy - Clusters search results so that you can target a particular topic.

Kid Safe Search Engines

It has always been my recommendation that teachers should search for Internet resources they want their students to use and design lessons/projects/units so that the Internet sites to be used are clearly defined. However, if you plan to send your students searching, use one of the Kid-Safe search engines below:

Kids.Net - Search Engine Just for kids & children - Searching safe & clean sites.

KidRex - a fun and safe search for kids, by kids [Don't let T Rex scare you!]

Kid Safe Search Engines - a list of sites from Resources for School Librarians

Kidz Search - When a search is done on KidzSearch.com, it can only return Google "strict" search results .

Search strategies for finding resources to support a classroom unit

Take a look at the list provided by Debbie Abilock titled " Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need ." For example, you might "have a broad academic subject and need pointers to quality sites." If so, Debbie suggests that you go to Librarians' Index to the Internet or Infomine. On the other hand, if you need to see relationships among ideas, she suggests that you use KartOO or Web Brain.

Google Search Tips for Students - 26 tips to help you improve your Google searches

How to Search the Web Effectively

Recommended Search Strategy: Analyze your topic & Search with peripheral vision - from University of California, Berkeley [This expired link is available through the Wayback Machine Internet Archive.]

Student's Internet Research Guide - This research guide is designed to help students explore the ins and outs of conducting effective research on the Web. The guide also provides help with proper citation formatting. Games and quizzes are included and could be printed.

Using Deep Web Search Engines for Academic and Scholarly Research - find out everything you need to know about the deep web, including what it means, where it lives, and how you can use it to your advantage

Step 1. Choose a few search engines, and learn how they work

Find 3 - 4 search engines that you are comfortable using and do most of your searches with them. This tutorial will use Vivisimo, which sends search queries to several search engines and then clusters the results. I have found that Vivisimo consistently gives me good results. If you wish to use a different search engine check out the list at the top of this page. There is also a list of Kid Safe Search Engines above.

Tip: Do not search with the button. Go to a search engine's homepage, not where the browser sends you.

Step 2. Use a Clustering search engine (Yippy)

Yippy - This search engine clusters the results by topic. This is the best way to see all of the content of a search, but not have to scroll through pages and pages of information.

Step 3. Searching for pictures
Internet4Classrooms has a collection of graphics links with a section on picture collections found on the Internet.

Step 4. Search for sounds on the Internet

FindSounds.com is a search engine for finding sound effects on the Web. Search the Web for sound effects and sample sounds. Take a look at the types of sounds you can find. This is a partial list. Many more sounds are available. You may also find a large number of sound files of all types at Partners in Rhyme .

Step 5. Let the purpose of your search determine the search engine to be used.

Take a look at the list provided by Debbie Abilock titled " Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need ." For example, you might "have a broad academic subject and need pointers to quality sites." If so, Debbie suggests that you go to Librarians' Index to the Internet or Infomine. On the other hand, if you need to see relationships among ideas, she suggests that you use KartOO or Web Brain. This is a great site, check it out!

Step 6. If you feel comfortable as an Internet sleuth, move on to discover how to evaluate web sites.

The University of California, Berkeley has an exercise in evaluating web sites. Essentially a WebQuest on evaluating sites, this activity is used to show UC Berkeley students why it is important to evaluate the source of information on the web. Try the activity yourself . [This expired link is available through the Wayback Machine Internet Archive.]

Step 7. Learn to use Boolean Logic in your searching

"Boolean searching is named after George Boole, a British mathematician (1815-1864), who wrote about logical ways to formulate precise queries using true-false connectors or "operators" between concepts. The true-false nature of Boolean logic, as this system is commonly called, makes it compatible with binary logic used in digital computers. It has become the conventional basis for searching most computerized systems." Quoted from Joe Barker (jbarker@library.berkeley.edu) from "Best Stuff on the Web" - Copyright 2002 The Teaching Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA. See a two-page .pdf document about using the primary operators . [This expired link is available through the Wayback Machine Internet Archive.]